Headbox Slice Beam Removal System and Device

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for the repair or maintenance of a papermaking headbox has two devices, one of which is used on the tending side and one of which is used on the drive side of the headbox. Each device has three parts, a lower bracket mounted to the headbox frame, an upper bracket mounted to the headbox slice beam, and a carriage which moves on a track formed on the lower bracket. The carriage is adjustably mounted to the upper bracket, and supports the slice beam which is attached to the upper bracket, and allows the slice beam to be precisely raised and lowered with respect to the headbox, so as to disconnect the slice beam from the headbox. Once separated, the slice beam is moved on the track, displacing it in the machine direction from the head box.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSOREDRESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a papermaking headbox in general, andtools to assist with the assembly and disassembly of the headbox inparticular.

In a papermaking machine, fibers such as wood fibers are suspended in adilute suspension in water and supplied onto a single forming fabric, orbetween two forming fabrics such that a paper web is formed. The webformed is first dewatered in a forming section and further dewateredthrough pressing in a pressing section, followed by final dewatering ina dryer section by application of the heat generated by steam heateddryer rolls. Critical to the overall quality of the web of paper orboard formed in the papermaking machine is the condition of the fibersas they are supplied to the forming section. Ideally the fibers areevenly distributed in a cross machine direction extending across thewidth of the web, and are deposited before the fibers have a chance toclump together. To accomplish these goals sophisticated devices known asheadboxes supply to the fabric or fabrics an even jet of stock composedof water, fibers and various additives.

Carefully formulated fiber stock is supplied to a header in the headboxwhich evenly distributes the stock in the cross machine direction to aflow channel which leads to a slice chamber and then to a slice openingwhich discharges on to the forming fabric(s) in the forming section. Asthe stock proceeds from the inlet header it typically passes through aturbulence generator and then into a converging slice chamber to thenarrow slice opening formed by slice lips. A jet of stock closelymatching the velocity of the forming fabric(s) exits the headbox throughthe slice lips and flows onto the forming fabric(s). The upper portionof the slice chamber is formed by a beam hingedly mounted by a knuckleto the headbox. Periodically during machine maintenance it is necessaryto remove the slice beam from the headbox for cleaning and inspection.

Because of the high cost of ownership of the papermaking machine, suchmachines are typically operated as nearly continuously as possible.Scheduled maintenance throughout the machine is simultaneously performedat certain intervals to avoid unscheduled shutdowns. During scheduledmaintenance the availability of overhead crane(s) for moving heavyobjects is limited by the competing needs of the various sections of thepapermaking machine which also require use of an overhead crane.Typically the slice beam, which can weigh in the neighborhood of 20,000pounds, requires the availability of a crane for its removal andreinstallation to the headbox. Furthermore, the slice beam normallycontains a large number of electrical or hydraulic actuators which shapethe slice lip to control small-scale variations in the paper webproduced. Complete removal of the slice beam requires disconnecting andreconnecting numerous control and power lines. What is needed is asystem for removing and reinstalling the headbox slice beam with minimumuse of the overhead crane, and which avoids the necessity ofdisconnecting the slice lip control connections.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The slice beam transport device of this invention has two devices, oneof which is used on the tending side and one of which is used on thedrive side of the headbox. Each device has three parts, a lower bracketmounted to the headbox frame, an upper bracket mounted to the headboxslice beam, and a transport bracket or carriage which has wheels whichallow the carriage to roll on a track formed on the lower bracket. Thetransport bracket is adjustably mounted to the upper bracket, andsupports the upper bracket and the slice beam which is attached to theupper bracket, and allows the slice beam to be precisely raised andlowered. Once the two devices are in place and supporting the slicebeam, the slice beam knuckle by which the slice beam is pivotallymounted to the headbox is detached from a knuckle socket by removing aknuckle clamp and the slice beam is lowered by approximately 200thousandths of an inch (0.2 inches). The slice beam is then movedhorizontally on the order of 6 inches to gain access to the slice beamknuckle for maintenance and repair.

It is a feature of the present invention to provide a device forreducing the labor associated with separating the slice beam from theheadbox.

It is another feature of the present invention to provide a device whichreduces the use of overhead crane facilities during headbox repair andmaintenance.

Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective side view of the headbox on which the slice beamtransport device of this invention is mounted.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the slice beam transport device ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the slice beam transport device ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a exploded isometric view of the slice beam transport deviceof FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1-4, wherein like numbers refer tosimilar parts, a headbox slice beam transport device 20 is shown mountedto the tending side of a BELOIT® Concept III headbox 22 available fromMetso Paper, Inc. A mirror image device (not shown) is mounted to thedrive side of the headbox 22. The headbox 22 has a frame 24 and a slicebeam 26 joined to the frame 24 at a knuckle 28 which forms a pivotbetween the slice beam 26 and the bottom wall 30 of the slice chamber32.

Each slice beam transport device 20 has three parts, as shown in theFIGS. 1-4, a lower bracket 34 mounted to the slice box frame 24 andbottom wall 30. An upper bracket 36 mounted to the head box slice beam26, and a transport bracket 38 which allows the slice beam 26 to move onthe lower bracket 34.

The lower bracket 34 is fastened by bolts 35 into the headbox 22. Thelower bracket 34 has a face plate 42 which is bolted to the headboxframe 24 and bottom wall 30 using existing bolt holes. The existing boltholes, when the transport device is not in use, receive bolts whichextend through a removable end plate 40 of the headbox 22, and hold theend plate in place. A first flange or horizontal beam 46 which extendsalong the headbox 22 toward the slice opening 48 in the machinedirection is welded onto the tending side face 44 of the face plate 42.The upper surface of the beam 46 forms a horizontal track 50 which has araised lip 52 which further defines the flat bottomed shallow upwardlyopening U-shaped horizontal track. The track 50 is supported byunderlying triangular gussets 54. Overlying the track is a second flange56 arranged to capture wheels running on the track 50.

Mounted to the second flange 56 on either end of the lower bracket 34are upstanding posts 58 which are welded to the second flange 56 and tothe face plate 42 along the tending side face 44. The upstanding posts58 extend above the face plate 42 and each upstanding post has a machinedirection threaded hole 60 in the portion of the posts 58 which extendsabove the face plate 42. In each threaded hole is a positioning bolt 62which can be used to cause lateral movement of the slice beam 26 bypressing on the upper bracket 36.

The upper bracket 36 has a face plate 64 which is fastened by bolts 65to the slice beam 26 using existing tapped holes in the slice beam 26.The upper bracket 36 has two upwardly extending vertical flanges 66welded to the face plate 64. The vertical flanges 66 are engaged by thepositioning bolts 62 of the lower bracket 34 to move the upper bracket36. Each vertical flange 66 has a welded top member 68 which hasportions which extend beyond a vertical flange in the cross machinedirection away from the tending side a short distance. Each top member68 has a vertical threaded hole 71 in which a bolt 72 is arranged tomove up and down parallel to the face plate 64 and a front face 70 ofeach vertical flange 66.

The third part of the slice beam transport device 20 is the transportbracket or carriage 38 having a frame 74 on which two wheels 76 aremounted for rotation. The wheels 76 are arranged to roll in the track 50of the lower bracket 34. The frame 74 has two vertical support member 78to each of which one of the wheels 76 is mounted. Each vertical supportmember 78 has two vertically slotted bolt holes 80 through which bolts82 clamp the vertical support member to one of the vertical flanges 66of the upper bracket 36. The clamping between the vertical supportmembers 78 and the vertical flanges 66 holds them in parallel relationbut allows for vertical motion under the effect of the weight of theslice beam. Each vertical support member 78 is terminated by an upwardlyfacing upper surface 84. The bolts 72 extend downwardly from the topmembers 68 of the upper bracket 36 and engage the support member 78upper surfaces 84. Rotation of the bolts 72 moves the upper supportbracket 36 with respect to the transport bracket 38, rasing and loweringthe upper bracket 36 and the attached slice beam 26. The slotted boltholes 80 allow slight vertical movements of the transport bracket 38with respect to the upper bracket 36 even as the vertical supportmembers 78 on the transport bracket 38 are clamped to the verticalflanges 66 of the upper bracket.

To move the slice beam in the machine direction to separate the knuckle28 from the headbox 22, an upper bracket 36 is bolted to the tending andto the drive side of the slice beam 26, and the lower brackets 34 arebolted to the tending and drive sides of the headbox 22. Transportbracket 38 are installed so the wheels 76 of the carriages engage thetracks 50 on the lower brackets 34 and the vertical support members 78are bolted to the vertical flanges 66 of the upper brackets 36. Then byturning the vertical adjustment bolts 72, the slice beam 26 is supportedon the carriages 38. When the slice beam 26 is thus supported, theheadbox knuckle clamp (not shown) is removed, and the slice beam knuckle28 is lowered out of the knuckle socket 86 in the headbox by backing offthe vertical adjustment bolts 72 approximately 200 thousandths of aninch, lowering the slice beam free of the knuckle socket. The slice beam26, now supported on the carriages 38, can be moved forward in themachine direction by using the positioning bolts 62 on the lowerbrackets 34 to move the slice beam approximately 6 inches in the machinedirection along the tracks 50 of the lower brackets. The process isreversed to install the slice beam. Controlled motion is effected usingthe opposed bolts 62 wherein one pair of bolts is rotated to advance theslice beam in a machine direction, and a second opposed pair of bolts isrotated and retracted to allow said motion and vice versa.

The slice beam transport devices 20 is advantageous in that when thepapermaking machine is down for maintenance an overhead crane isrequired only for a short time to install and remove the slice beamtransport device. Thus the overhead crane is made available for othermaintenance jobs. Furthermore, when the beam transport device 20 is usedto provide precise and accurate control over movement of the slice beam26, it is not necessary to disconnect the slice lip control hoses andwires.

It should be understood that the slice beam transport device 20 may beadapted to a wide range of headboxes, with the precise structuralarrangement varying in accordance with the necessity of a particularheadbox design. The essential components are three brackets: one mountedto the headbox, one to the slice beam, and one that allows a smallvertical motion and a relatively large horizontal movement therebetween.The third bracket can be more or less incorporated into one of the firstor second brackets.

It should be understood that the term bolt or bolts as used hereingenerally refers to fasteners having a threaded shank and a bolt headwhich facilitates rotation of the threaded shank, such as also referredto as screws, but also includes a threaded rod combined with one or morethreaded nuts.

It should be understood that preferably no modifications to the headboxor the slice beam is required, rather existing bolt holes or structuresare used for mounting the upper bracket 36 to the slice beam and thelower bracket 34 to the headbox.

It is understood that the invention is not limited to the particularconstruction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described,but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope ofthe following claims.

1. A papermaking machine headbox and maintenance tool assemblycomprising: a headbox with tending side and drive side ends of theheadbox removed; a slice beam detachably mounted to the headbox withtending side and drive side ends of the headbox removed; a pair of firstbrackets fastened to the head box below the slice beam, one of the firstbrackets being bolted to a tending side of the headbox, and one of thefirst brackets being bolted to a drive side of the headbox; a pair ofsecond brackets, wherein one of said second brackets is attached withbolts to a tending side of the slice beam, and one of said secondbrackets is attached to a drive side of the slice beam, each secondbracket being positioned above one of the first brackets; and a pair oftransport brackets, each transport bracket mounted between one firstbracket and one second bracket, and providing in cooperation with saidfirst brackets and said second brackets controlled vertical andhorizontal supported movement of the slice beam with respect to theheadbox.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each first bracket hasportions forming a track, and wherein each transport bracket hasportions engaging said track for motion along said track.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein the portions engaging said track comprise apair of wheels mounted for rotation to the transport bracket.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3 wherein the track on each first bracket comprises ahorizontally extending flange mounted to a vertical face plate, andwherein the horizontally extending flange has a vertically extendingraised lip, so that the raised lip and the vertical face plate incombination with the horizontally extending flange define a shallowU-shaped track, along which the wheels are arranged to roll.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein each of the transport brackets has aplurality of bolts extending horizontally in a cross machine direction,and portions of the transport brackets define vertically slotted boltholes, wherein the bolts pass through the slotted holes and engage oneof said second brackets, and further comprising portions of the secondbrackets which define a plurality of vertically extending threadedholes, and a vertically extending bolt threadedly engaged with eachthreaded hole, the vertically extending bolts passing through thevertically extending threaded holes and bearing on one of said transportbrackets so that rotation of the vertically extending bolts moves saidone of said second brackets and the slice beam attached thereto withrespect to the transport bracket and thus with respect to the headbox.6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the track on each first bracketcomprises a horizontally extending flange mounted to a vertical faceplate, and wherein each first bracket further comprises: a second flangeoverlying the track and mounted to the face plate; two spaced apartupstanding posts welded to the second flange and to the face plate, theupstanding posts having portions which extend above the face plate,portions of each upstanding post defining a machine direction threadedhole; and a positioning bolt in each threaded hole, the positioningbolts arranged to bear on portions of one of said second bracketspositioned between the spaced apart upstanding posts to cause movementin the machine direction by pressing on said portions of one of saidsecond brackets.
 7. An apparatus for controlled separation and movementof a headbox slice beam with respect to a headbox, during maintenancewhen a tending side, and a drive side end of the headbox have beenremoved, the apparatus comprising: a first bracket configured to attachwith bolts to a tending side of the headbox below the slice beam toportions of the headbox which define bolt holes; a second bracketconfigured to attach with bolts to a tending side of the slice beam toportions of the slice beam which define bolt holes, the second bracketpositioned above the first bracket; and a transport bracket mountedbetween the first bracket and the second bracket, and providingcontrolled vertical and horizontal supported movement therebetween. 8.The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the first bracket has portions forminga track, and wherein the transport bracket has portions engaging saidtrack for motion along said track.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 whereinthe portions engaging the first bracket track comprise a pair of wheelsmounted for rotation to the transport bracket.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 9 wherein the track on the first bracket comprises a horizontallyextending flange mounted to a vertical face plate, and wherein thehorizontally extending flange has a vertically extending raised lip, sothat the raised lip and the vertical face plate in combination with thehorizontally extending flange define a shallow U-shaped track, alongwhich the wheels are arranged to roll.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8wherein the transport bracket has a plurality of bolts extendinghorizontally in a cross machine direction, and portions of the transportbracket forming vertically slotted bolt holes, wherein the bolts passthrough the slotted holes and engage the second bracket, and furthercomprising portions of the second bracket which define a plurality ofvertically extending threaded holes, and a vertically extending bolt isthreadedly engaged with each threaded hole, the bolts passing throughthe vertically extending threaded holes and bearing on the transportbracket so that rotation of the vertically extending bolts moves thesecond bracket vertically, to thereby move vertically the slice beamattached thereto with respect to the transport bracket and thus withrespect to the headbox.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the trackon the first bracket comprises a horizontally extending flange mountedto a vertical face plate; and wherein the first bracket furthercomprises: a second flange overlying the track; two spaced apartupstanding posts welded to the second flange and to the face plate, theupstanding posts having portions which extend above the face plate andform machine direction threaded holes; and a positioning bolt in eachthreaded hole, the positioning bolts arranged to bear on portions of thesecond bracket positioned between the spaced apart upstanding posts tocause movement in the machine direction of the second bracket bypressing on said portions of the second bracket.
 13. A method ofseparating a slice beam from a headbox to which the slice beam ismounted, the headbox having a bottom wall, and the slice beam and thebottom wall defining a slice chamber therebetween, comprising the stepsof: removing a tending side end cover from the headbox to exposeportions of the headbox and the slice beam defining tending sidethreaded bolt holes used to attach the tending side end cover; removinga drive side end cover from the headbox to expose portions of theheadbox and the slice beam defining drive side threaded bolt holes usedto attach the drive side end cover; fastening a tending side firstbracket to the headbox by extending bolts into a first plurality of thetending side threaded bolt holes below the slice chamber; fastening adrive side first bracket to the headbox by extending bolts into a firstplurality of the drive side threaded bolt holes below the slice chamber;bolting a tending side second bracket to a second plurality of thetending side threaded bolt holes in the slice beam; bolting a drive sidesecond bracket to a second plurality of the drive side threaded boltholes in the slice beam; mounting a transport bracket between thetending side first bracket and the tending side second bracket, tosupport the slice beam with respect to the headbox; mounting a driveside transport bracket between the drive side first bracket and thedrive side second bracket, to support the slice beam with respect to theheadbox; freeing the slice beam for vertical and horizontal motion withrespect to the headbox; lowering the slice beam toward the bottom wallby vertically adjusting the relative position of the first brackets withrespect to the transport brackets; and transporting the slice beamhorizontally in a downstream machine direction away from the headbox bya sliding motion of the transport brackets on the first brackets. 14.The method of claim 13 wherein the slice beam is lowered towards thebottom wall by about 200 thousands of an inch, followed by a movement ofthe slice beam in the horizontal downstream machine direction of on theorder of 6 inches.
 15. The method of claim 13 wherein the horizontaldownstream machine direction motion of the slice beam is effected byadjustment of opposed bolts mounted to the first brackets, wherein apair of bolts on the first brackets are rotated to advance the slicebeam in a machine direction, and a second pair of opposed bolts on thefirst brackets are rotated and retracted to allow said motion.
 16. Themethod of claim 13 wherein the vertical motion is effected by retractingvertically positioned bolts threadedly engaged with said second bracketswhich extend downwardly to engage portions of said transport brackets toprovide vertical support of the slice beam with respect to saidtransport brackets.
 17. The method of claim 13 wherein the foregoingsteps are reversed to reassemble the slice beam to the headbox, andwherein the slice beam remains connected to the headbox by pneumatic orelectrical control lines before, during, and after said foregoing steps.